Category Archives: Miscellaneous

Hello everyone! I know it’s been ages since my last post, but I guess… I’m back? I love being a blogger and I love writing posts for you to read and to comment on but lately, I’ve been having a lot of issues and I couldn’t set myself to write something that will be “trendy” or “clickbaity” enough. And every time I wanted to write something I thought that as my “comeback post” it had to be something really good and as time went by whatever thing I was able to write wasn’t good enough.

Honestly, this year is building up to be a literal hell of non-stop to-do lists and tasks to do and I’m already considering to let go of some hobbies of mine, or at least put them on hiatus. And as I was thinking about all the things I will have to leave behind this year I came across the question about this blog.

Like I said before, I can’t keep this blog up as a professional blogger. Even though it hurts like hell (because I’ve put so much effort into it) I have to come to terms with not being able to go on. But I simply can’t with the idea of having to let go of it. So… I came to the conclusion that I’m going to keep writing but this blog it’s going to be a little bit more personal. It’s going to be my outlet and sadly I’m not going to put that much effort promoting it. I’ll try to write as much as I can, I’ll write about my day, my issues, college, science, work, house-keeping shit and such. I’ll try to be open with you, I’ll try to be honest and I’m going to be ME. I don’t know what this year has in store for me, but I can assure it’s going to be a pain in the ass. At least I guess it’s going to be entertaining.

So, if you think you want to keep following this blog because you consider this might be fun… be my guest! Welcome to my life, I hope you enjoy the ride. I’m pretty sure I’m going to cry a lot.

I hope you join me on this adventure! I consider feedback is love and it’s always welcomed.

Since my boyfriend and I have been together for five years and today it’s our 5-year anniversary, I’m going to write an open letter to him. So, here it goes. Woah, I’m so nervous, I have never done this before…

Hi honey, I know this must be weird but I promise you that I won’t reveal anything or do anything to embarrass you. I love you so much and I’m pretty sure you already knew that, but I think that after five years a simple “I love you” just won’t cut it anymore. So that’s why I thought that writing you an open letter and letting everyone know how much I love you could be a pretty cool gift. It’s been 5 years since we started this awesome, beautiful relationship and a lot had happened to us. We changed a lot and we grew up together, we became stronger. We had to face a lot of bullshit and we had to learn a lot of awful things by ourselves. I’m not gonna lie to you, there were times where I thought that maybe you’ll get tired of me because everything that was happening to us was so intense and I was being a little extra and a little intense… but those awful things happening to us instead of coming between us, they came at us and we faced them as a team. It actually made us stronger.

Like I said, I know sometimes I can be a little extra, I can cry a little too much and I can feel a lot of stuff and react to it, but you figured me out. You learned to understand me like no one does. And I love you so much for that because I can finally be myself, I can be myself around you and I know that I won’t be judged and most of the time you’ll understand me. And feeling that way it’s something so amazing that I can’t even try to put into words; so thank you.

Being with you these past five years has been an amazing journey. The amount of love and understanding you give me pretty much every day is overwhelming. These past few years had been the happiest time of my life and I want you to know that.

Also, I’m so happy that YOU are my significant other because I couldn’t be any happier that it’s someone like you. Why? Because you are the best human being on the planet: you are kind, you are smart, and you are so funny and thoughtful. Also, you are so handsome, OMG don’t get me started on that one.

I love my relationship with you, I love the fact that we can be together and we can be ourselves. I love the fact that we share some interest but we don’t share all of them. I love that when I’m with you sometimes I feel like I’m by myself and I feel free. I love that you love me the way I am; with all my faults and imperfections. I love that you love how random I am, how I get passionate about things and how my eyes brighten up when I want to do something silly.

I love how much you love me and I love loving you. Because loving you is one of the best things I have ever experienced. I love how thoughtful you are, I love how we can talk about anything and still understand each other, even if we don’t agree. I love that you are not afraid of trying new things, I love how passionate you get about things you like and I love you. That’s it. I love you. I love all of you.

I only hope that our relationship keeps growing stronger as time passes. I want to keep experiencing new things in life with you by my side. Thank you for these past five years and for many, many more…

I love you so much.

Me.

Ok, that was intense guys. I wasn’t joking when I said I was a little extra and intense, see?

Anyway, I hope you guys liked how open and honest I was and I hope my boyfriend doesn’t leave me after I wrote a two-page public love letter to him. What was I thinking?

So guys, what do you think? Are you in a relationship? Would you ever write a public letter to your significant other? What was your favorite anniversary gift to give? And to receive?

I would love to read all your comments so please leave me a comment in the comment section below. Also, if you are new to ITBC please feel free to check the rest of the blog out and also please subscribe to my blog or follow me on any of my social media listed on the left so you’ll be notified whenever I post new content on the blog.

OMG, I cannot believe I’m accepting another blog award in less than a week! I’m so honored and happy about this, about people thinking my work is good enough to be considered for a nomination…

This time I’m accepting the Liebster Award. I was nominated by Allen from The Traveler 196, his blog is awesome please go check it out! He writes about travel and takes really cool photos. Thank you for the nomination, I really appreciate it!

Here are the 2017 Liebster Award Rules:

The rules are pretty simple. After you receive and accept the award, you basically ‘pay it forward’ by following these steps:

1) Thank the person who nominated you and post a link to their blog on your blog.
2) Display the award on your blog — by including it in your post and/or displaying it using a “widget” or a “gadget”. (Note that the best way to do this is to save the image to your own computer and then upload it to your blog post.)
3) Provide 10 random facts about yourself. (optional)
4) Nominate 5 blogs that you feel that deserve the award.
5) List these rules in your post (You can copy and paste off my post or visit this site.)
6) Answer five questions and think 5 questions to ask to the next nominees.
7) Lastly, inform the people/blogs that you nominated and provide a link for them to your post.

Here are the five question I have to answer:

1) How long have you been blogging?
I’ve been blogging on and off for ten years now but this is the first time I’m really trying. And I’ve been writing on this blog for 8 months and I’ve been trying to post new content every week.

2) What advice/tips do you have for new bloggers?
Don’t give up. Do a lot of research before you start. Learn a lot about social media. Engage with other bloggers. Work hard because it takes time but you’ll eventually get there. But NEVER.GIVE.UP.

3)How do you overcome writer’s block?
I start to brainstorm and to think about possible projects I can do, I go to Pinterest and I like to take long walks to clear my mind. That always helps.

4) What impact do you plan on having on the world?
Something I would love to do is to be able to forge a new generation with gender equality, less hate and more tolerance. If I can do something to make the world a better place I would definitely do it.

5) What is your favorite blog post written by you and why?
Well, I have to say that my favorite blog post written by me is “Using your phone is like smoking in the 50’s”. I like it because I feel so strongly about it. I hate seeing people walking on the streets not paying attention to anything or anyone but their cellphones. And I think it’s a severe addiction that we are not taking seriously.

And now I’m going to list 10 random facts about myself:1) I speak fluent Spanish and English. 2) I’m currently learning Japanese.3) I tried learning French for 2 years and I hated it.4) I love The Vampire Diaries so much (the TV show, not the books).5) I’ve read every book Dan Brown has ever written and I really enjoyed them.6) I love to walk, I can walk 6 kilometers in an afternoon and keep going.7) I love to organize things: parties, events, birthdays… anything, you name it.8) I love to hip-hop. I’ve been taking hip-hop classes for 7 years now.9) I love to talk. I can talk for hours!!10) I did the International Bachelorette and it was hell but I learned a lot so it was totally worth it.

My five questions for the nominees are:
1) What were you looking for when you started blogging?
2) What’s your favorite social media?
3) What’s your favorite TV show?
4) What’s your ultimate blogging goal?}
5) Tell me how your dream life would look like…

Congratulations to everyone! You can accept the award, follow the rules and comment on this post with the link to your acceptance post or ignore this and go on with your life.
And if you weren’t nominated you can answer my questions and leave me a comment with your answers, I would love to read them! If you are new to my blog please feel free to check ITBC out, there’s a lot of stuff to read! And if you really liked it feel free to follow me so you can get an email every time there is a new post!
I guess that’s all. I hope you have an amazing weekend and I hope to see you on Monday!

I am happily accepting my first blog award EVER! I’m so excited! This blog award is the Blue Sky Tag Challenge Award which is an unofficial blog award given by a fellow blogger. Like any other unofficial blog award, it has some rules upon acceptance.

What is it?

The Blue Sky Tag Challenge (a.k.a. Blue Sky Challenge) is given away by blogging peers. This means a fellow blogger in the community has found in my blog or in one of my posts something that caught his attention because it has an attribute he deemed worthy. This particular award seems to have something to do with the number 11 because I have to answer 11 questions asked by the person who nominated me and then I have to nominate 11 bloggers and ask them 11 new questions and they have to do the same thing on their blogs.

But first things first: I have to thank Booferson from Boo’s insane and inane ramblings for nominating me. His blog is really interesting so be sure to check it out (click here)! Thank you for thinking my blog was good enough to receive this award and thank you for your trust.

Now I’m going to answer the eleven questions that Booferson asked me:

1. What is your favorite film or television genre?

I think I’ll have to say drama or comedy. It depends on how I’m feeling. Sometimes all I really need is a good comedy and sometimes all I need is a captivating drama.

2. What reality TV show or game show do you think you’re best suited for?

Mmm… I think I’m best suited for Family Feud. I love that game and when I was little I used to play it on my computer for hours!!

3. What is your guilty pleasure? In other words, what food, song, movie, or whatever do you absolutely love to the point you will drop everything to indulge in it and refuse to give up for any reason?

Oh, this one is easy. I love Inuyasha (it’s an old-school anime) and it means the world to me. Let’s just say I’m not obsessed with Japanese animation but Inuyasha holds a special place in my heart. It’s a masterpiece. I will highly recommend it. It doesn’t matter what I’m doing, I’ll stop doing whatever I’m doing to watch or read anything Inuyasha related.

4. Where do you get your inspiration for all your blog posts?

I observe the world around me. Also, I like to share things that I learn that might be useful to others. I talk to a bunch of people on a daily basis and I try to listen to what worries them.

5. If you had to limit yourself to only one form of social media (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, your blog, etc), which would you choose?

This one is tricky. I’ll say that I will limit myself to Facebook.

6. Why did you make your choice for the previous question?

It’s not my favorite social media, but I find it the most useful one. I use it for college, to see what my relatives are doing, to stay up to date on what’s going on with the world, to see and share photos, to connect with people, to share things…

7. How many other blogs do you read on a regular basis?

I read a lot of blogs, let’s just say that I read 15 blogs on a regular basis but this number can vary from time to time. Sometimes I read more and sometimes I can’t keep up with the updates.

8. Apple, Android, Windows Phone, other, and why?

Android. I’m used to it and I feel I can do more things with it. I think Apple is not for everyone and it makes it so difficult to share anything with someone that doesn’t own an Apple device, it’s frustrating. Android is more friendly and I like it more.

9. Favorite song of the moment?

It’s going to sound unoriginal but whatever: Shape of you – Ed Sheeran

10. Name something you remember fondly from your childhood that the current generation will “never understand”.

Setting up the VCR to record my favorite TV-show on VHS because I wasn’t going to be able to watch it live.

11. What’s number 1 on your bucket list, and in all honesty do you think you’ll ever complete it?

My number 1 on my bucket list is “To be happy with what I’m doing with my life”. I honestly don’t know if I’m ever going to accomplish it, but you can be sure that I’m trying really hard!

Questions

What is your favorite social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc) and why?

How do you feel about ads on your blog?

If you could only pick one superpower: read minds or rewind time, what would it be?

When you are sad, what’s your favorite thing to do to cheer yourself up?

Do you speak another language, if so, what language is it?

What’s your favorite movie of all time?

TV-show that you think is terribly underrated?

What’s your guilty pleasure? That thing that you really enjoy but you are ashamed of? Let your readers know!

Do you have a pet?

Why did you start your blog?

That’s it. Now you can accept and answer these questions (be sure to link your acceptance post in the comment section below) or decline in a comment (or you can send me an email to ideasthatbuildcities@gmail.com, or just ignore this altogether and go on with your life).

If you were not nominated but you feel like answering my questions, feel free to answer them in the comment section, I would love to read your answers! And if you are new to the blog feel free to check out the rest and follow ITBC so you can receive an email every time there is a new update!

I’m sorry I’ve been MIA, I had a rough couple of days but things are looking up. I hope to see you next time, bye!

Today I’m going to show you an awesome website that I started using about a year ago. It’s called Book Depository and it’s a dream come true. Why?Because it delivers any book you buy, even if you live outside the U.S., directly to your house FOR FREE!! That’s right, I live in Argentina, which is a country located in South America that is far away from everything and I still get the books delivered to my house, for free!!

I feel weird about writing about this because I tend to think that everyone already knows about Book Depository but, on the other hand, a little over a year ago I had absolutely no idea that it existed so, I would like to think that by writing this I will be helping another bookworm like myself to get a hold of amazing books by using this e-shop.

How does it work? Well, like any other e-shop, first you go to their web: www.bookdepository.com and you start browsing for those books you have always wanted but they were too expensive to buy or they didn’t even exist in your country.

I love to read but I often like certain titles that are not even available in my country so sometimes it can be next to impossible to get a hold of certain books that I want. I’ve had a lot of moments where I would browse for a book on e-shops and I would find it, I would try to buy it and I was asked to pay three times the price of that book in order to get it delivered to my house. And that would always stop me until now.

They deliver your books in no time (I’m used to a month or two of waiting, but with Book Depository it’s only two weeks!) and they even give you a nice bookmark every time you order something. And sometimes they have amazing sales where the books are 70% off! I know, it’s crazy!!

So next time you want to buy a book, don’t forget to check Book Depository out. You might end up saving a lot of money!!

So tell me, did you know about Book Depository? Have you tried it? If so, what book did you buy? Did you find that book that you were looking for? I would love to know, so please let me a comment in the comment section down below!

See you next time… bye!!

-L.S.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links – but don’t worry, I always truly believe in the product I write about. By clicking through and making a purchase ITBC receives a small commission.

When it comes to doing stuff – I am a very organized person. I like to seize the day, I like to do a bunch of things every day so I can get things done fast. And to be able to do that means I have to be very organized when it comes to knowing all the things I have to do. This is why I want to share my tricks with you so you can also be organized and seize the day.

First: Write down all the things you have to do. I’m serious, every single one of them! Even if it means writing down “Take a shower” or “have lunch”. Why? Because when you write down everything, your brain doesn’t have to focus on what you have to do so it can focus on how to get it done. Do this at the beginning of your day, when you just woke up or while having breakfast. I recommend you write it down, you can print this list that I made for you, it’ll be really helpful! I strongly recommend that you write it down on this list or on a notepad instead of using an electronic device.

Once you have all the things you have to in mind, try to see if there is something you need to get done at a certain time or before something else happens (For example if you have to go to the bank before it closes, you have an appointment or you have to go and buy food so you can cook lunch) and write it next to that specific time on the list (or write the time next to the chore if you are making your own list). Then, try to get everything on the list done. If there is something you need to get done at a certain time you can set an alarm, it’s really helpful!

Every time you accomplish something, crossed it off your list! That feeling you get when you do something you were supposed to do it’s awesome. And it feels so good it makes you want to be able to cross everything off your list. So that will keep you motivated to do more tasks! At least it happens to me. Also, it helps to see how much you get done during the day. Every night check on your list, see if there is something you missed and maybe you can add it to the “Tomorrow I have to” section so you can check it the following day and add it to tomorrow’s list. Also, you can see you’ve done a lot of stuff and you can go to sleep with a sense of accomplishment.

AND if you have to a lot of stuff for a long period of time (like a month) draw a calendar and try to pour everything you have to do in there. When I do that all the things that looked like a trillion things in my head now seem doable and that relaxes me. When I have a lot of things to do my brain tends to overload and I’ll feel suffocated. But if I write it down my brain calms down and I can see things clearly. Maybe you thought that you had to wait for two weeks to do something and you realize you can get it done in two days. Maybe you thought you were behind on writing that essay because you thought you needed like the day after tomorrow and you realize you actually have a full week to do it.

Writing things down will definitely help your brain out, it’ll free your mind! Now your brain will have more time and energy to do stuff instead of having to remember all the things you have to do. I would say that this is my life hack to be more organized. You don’t need money or weird things to be more organized. You need to give your brain a break: write everything down!

Well, let me know what you think about this. And let me know if you’ve tried this and how did it go! Also, do you have any tips you would like to share? I would love to read all about it in the comment section! Thank you so much for reading this, if you found this helpful don’t forget to give it a like. If this is the first time visiting ITBC please feel free to check the rest of the blog out and if you like it, follow Ideas That Build Cities so you’ll receive a notification whenever there’s a new post!

Have you ever had those days where everything is wrong, that you feel blue and stressed, that you’ve been working like crazy or binge-studying and you need to unwind? Well, today I’m going to share with you what are the things that help me unwind.

When I have a stressful day I have a lot of things I like to do to unwind.

Dim the lights and listen to some relaxing music

I would go to Spotify and listen to the Playlist “Relax & Unwind”. I’ll try to stay away from bright screens (If I have to use my cell phone I would set the screen brightness as lowest as possible). I would try to stop thinking about all the things I have to do. I like to do this with my boyfriend after a long day. We would cook something nice together and we will sit down and eat it. We can talk about our day and let go of all the stressful things that happened. Wine or beer is optional, but it’s a nice touch!

Relax and read a book

I would lie down on my bed and read a book; nothing’s better than letting your mind wander to other things. Nothing is better than a good book to take your mind off of things. After that, I would take a bath, have a nice dinner and go to bed early.

Watch my favorite TV show

After a long and stressful day maybe all you need is a good genuine laugh. And for that my favorite thing to do is to sit down and watch my favorite TV show (and I prefer comedies when I’m stressed). I will sit down and watch Friends, or Modern Family, or Parks and Recreation or Scrubs. Anything that would make me laugh and forget about everything.

Have a dinner date with friends!

If you are stressed nothing is better than let it all out with some friends. Talk about what’s been bothering you over dinner, laugh about it with friends and then go home with a big smile on your face. Eat whatever you want, be happy, you’ve had a stressful day. You deserve it. Also, you can go to the theatre and watch a movie. Have a great night out.

Well, those are the things I do when I’m stressed. What are the things that you do? Do you do some of these? Please leave me a comment; I would love to read it! Thank you so much for reading this, if it’s the first time visiting ITBC feel free to check the rest of the blog out!